57% of Utahns support banning conversion therapy for minors

Abstract

About 57% of adults in Utah support the state's efforts to stop therapists and other licensed mental health professionals from attempts to change a child's sexual orientation or gender identity, according to a recent poll conducted by The Salt Lake Tribune and Suffolk University, the Tribune reported Feb. 18. Approval for a conversion ban transcends political party — self‐identified Republicans and Democrats expressed equal levels of support — buttressing claims that the issue is not a partisan one. Accordingly, LGBTQ advocates are seeing a growing willingness to consider bans in red states such as Oklahoma and Kentucky. “Utah opened the door to conversation,” said Sam Brinton, head of advocacy and government affairs for The Trevor Project, an organization that focuses on suicide prevention among LGBTQ youths. “Troy Williams, who helped lead the fight to make the Utah the 19th state to establish a conversion ban, said lawmakers from Idaho, Arizona, Kentucky and Iowa have reached out to his group, Equality Utah, for help in advancing their own prohibitions. “Everyone in red states is now saying, ‘If Utah can do it, so can we!’” Williams wrote in a text message. “We are hopeful that Utah will again inspire the rest of the country.”